In the final seconds
by GrunkleDunkin
Summary: Naruto meets a few interesting people in an online game, little does he know that they are going to have much more of an impact on his live than he anticipated. Rated M for later chapters.


**A/N: It's been a while since I have submitted something to the site. It's Christmas Eve and decided to publish the first chapter of a story I have been working on for a while for you guys to read. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. If you like the story, please do not hesitate to review or send me a private message or something. I like receiving feedback.**

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Naruto was sneaking down an uncharted corridor in a dungeon he stumbled upon not too long ago; he had saved it on his map marker after the barkeep at the local inn said that there had been rumors of massive amounts of gold coin being stashed deep within this dungeon. So far, Naruto had not encountered any hostile enemy; all he had seen were a few dead rats and some disturbed sarcophaguses. Even though no enemies had been spotted, Naruto still crouched and kept his right hand on the dagger that was fastened to his upper right thigh. He had only been playing this game for a week, but he knew by now that you had to take every precaution to survive.

The game was a virtual reality game; one bought a pair of glasses, which connected small electrodes to the temples to immerse the player in the game. The players of the game could feel the weather on their skin, taste the food, and feel all of the pleasures that come with life. However, they could also fell all of the pain that comes with life as well. If one were to die in the game, fifty volts would be sent to the brain causing the person to suffer discomfort for an extended period and possibly cause brain damage. All of the players were made to sign a waiver before participating in the game, to prevent lawsuits from being filed and all of that mumbo jumbo.

Naruto made sure to keep his footfalls light as to not alert any nearby enemies. He had been walking around in this dungeon for an hour or so now, he believed that he should be getting close to the end. The dungeon was cold, much colder than it was outside and there was mud on the floor. Naruto kept close to the wall. As he inched further into the dungeon, he could see that there was an opening up ahead, an opening large enough to be the treasure room. He looked down, seeing that there was a trip wire placed across the floor leading to a swinging axe in the wall.  
"Hah, they are going to have to try a lot harder than this to trip me up." Naruto scoffed as he stepped over the trip wire and into a pile of mud.  
Naruto looked back and was prepared to laugh, but as he shifted his weight he heard a slight 'click' and a cage of spikes surrounded him, keeping him from advancing any further or retreating.

"Shit." Naruto swore under his breath as he realized that his ignoring the mud was a huge mistake. "There shouldn't have been any mud on a dungeon floor. At least not if the dungeon is unexplored."

Naruto unsheathed the knife and braced himself for a fight.

"Looks like we caught one." A smug voice echoed through the dungeon corridor.

"Let's go see what got caught." A huskier voice said.

Footsteps started echoing through the corridor, getting louder and louder with each passing second. Naruto was in a predicament. He couldn't run away, nor could he defeat the two approaching enemies. Maybe he could get one down and run from the other, but they were at an advantage, especially having full knowledge of the dungeon and assumedly having all of the treasure that lied ahead. The footsteps were growing closer and the clang of heavy armor rang in Naruto's ears.

The men reached the cage that was keeping Naruto prisoner and he heard one fiddle around with what sounded like a lock. One of the spikes that composed the cage fell, revealing the form of two men.

"You caught me." Naruto laughed as he sheathed his knife and walked toward the two forms. He figured that perhaps he could win these two over with charm and then perhaps get out of this cage and run as far away as his legs would take him.

"Your charm won't work on me kid. I know rogues too well." The huskier of the two voices said.

Whoever he was, he knew how to deal with rogues.

Naruto walked closer to the forms. He got close enough to be able to make out both of their faces. The man with the huskier voice was outfitted with black heavy armor with silver trim and carried a huge broadsword on his back. The other was a rogue; he was outfitted with light leather armor and carried a bow on his back as well as a quiver full of arrows strapped to his back.

"So that's how he knew." Naruto muttered under his breath.

As Naruto got closer, the facial features of the men came into view. The warrior had shaggy brown hair with red triangle tattoos adorning his cheeks. The other also had shaggy brown hair and purple face paint; his hair was a bit longer than the warrior's hair and a bit messier.

Naruto walked up to the gab in the spikes and leaned on the spike to his left.

"So what's it going to take for me to get outta here?" Naruto said sounding a bit nervous and impatient.

"Well, maybe we should start with introductions first." The warrior smirked, knowing he had Naruto in a very tight predicament. "My name is Kiba and this is Kankuro." He waved a hand in the general direction of the rogue.

"Kiba, there is no need for introductions. There is poison on the spikes, all of them. They were indented to trap the person and make them fall asleep, allowing us to get at them easily." Kankuro smugly said, as if he was satisfied with his work.

Naruto's eyes began to get heavy. He knew he wouldn't be awake much longer.

"Please, don't kill me." Naruto managed to say before he slumped over in the cage.

"He definitely has potential, especially if he avoided all of those other traps and made it this far." Kiba said, admiring the moxy of this newly found rogue. "You know, he would be a pretty good addition to the team, don't you think?" Kiba looked at Kankuro with hope-filled eyes.

"What if he is a spy for them, Kiba?" Kankuro suggested. He was always extremely cautious and paranoid ever since he, Kiba, and Shikamaru had left the Clockwork Knights and deiced to create their own group. Kankuro shifted his gaze to the slumped over rogue. He had blonde spiky hair, deep blue eyes, a fragile clean-cut face, and small whisker-like marks on each side of his face.

"Why don't we wait for him to wake up, then we can ask him ourselves. He will be in no position to lie. Plus if they knew where we were I am sure they would send more than one recruit after us." Kiba pointed out.

"Alright, fine." Kankuro reluctantly agreed. "But we have to restrain him."

Kiba and Kankuro got Naruto out of the cage and brought him into the treasure room where he was tied up and restrained by Shikamaru and his special shadow binding magic. Shikamaru was the final member of their group. He had long hair that was usually pulled up into a ponytail. Shikamaru was more of a strategist. He provided the group with various plans of action and he preferred to stay out of the fighting. Shikamaru was smart, but extremely lazy; he enjoyed staying in one area and watching the clouds pass by, even in the virtual realm.

A few hours passed and Naruto began to twitch; his eyelids began to flutter and before too long, they flittered open. He was in an immaculate room, a room fit for a king. There were ornate treasure chests that had been plundered scattered across his line of vision.

"It's about time you woke up," Kiba's voice rang out behind him. "So what exactly are you doing here?" he asked, stepping into Naruto's line of vision.

"I am here to advance further in the game. I really can't get too far as a solo player unless I acquire a lot of cash and some pretty good weapons." Naruto stated coolly.

"You're a solo player?" Kiba looked surprised. "Well, you must be good if you have managed to survive this long."

Naruto busted out laughing. "You must be joking, right? It's not that difficult."

"You do know how the game works right? You are fighting against other people, people in real life, to get to the top of the ranking charts. As far as ranking goes, you can be ranked as a group or as a solo player. You can get points by exploring dungeons, finding treasure, and eradicating enemies. The person or people on top after a predetermined amount of time will receive some sort of prize, according to the creator of the game. Right now, the group called Clockwork Knights is purging all of those they deem a threat. That way they will be on top and get the prize. The leaders of the group have plans to murder all of the underlings in the group after they acquire the top spot." Kiba explained.

"Well; I haven't run into any of those people. So is that what you guys are trying to accomplish?" Naruto asked.

"We are inclined on preventing the Clockwork Knights from becoming the highest ranking group, so far they are three rankings below us, and we are currently in third place. Slowly, but surely, people have been disappearing from the game and thusly left in a comatose state in the real world. The people that have been disappearing have been rising up the ranks fast. We have a hunch that the Clockwork Knights might be behind their disappearances." Kiba said, looking Naruto in the eyes.

"Okay, cool. What do you want me to do about it and why are you telling me? I'm a thief. Are you going to kill me now that you've got me tied up or what?" Naruto said with a sassy tone to his voice.

"Well, we thought about killing you, but we actually have a proposition for you." Kiba said a wicked smile appearing on his face. "We won't kill you…"  
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." Naruto beamed.

"IF," Kiba continued. "You join our group."

Naruto's smile immediately faded and was replaced with a pained look. He was confused as to why these people would want him on their team. Was this all a part of some devious plan they had to secure their own spot at the top of the leader boards? Were they working with the Clockwork Knights?

"You aren't affiliated with this group are you?" Naruto asked genuinely concerned for his life at this point. A bead of sweat began to trickle down Naruto's forehead as he awaited an answer from the apparent leader of this band of misfits.

"No, not anymore." Kiba divulged.

"What do you mean 'not anymore'?" Naruto inquired. The ropes were beginning to chafe against Naruto's arms and upper thighs. He needed to get out of these things as soon as possible, but he didn't want to sign his life over without knowing exactly what he was getting into first.

"Well, we were a part of this group for a while, but then we found out that they were purging people and left the group promptly." Kiba noted. "So are you in or are you out?" Before Kiba finished the sentence, he had brandished his broadsword and had the tip aligned with Naruto's throat.

"Well, now that you put it that way," Naruto gulped staring down the sharp end of the sword, "I'll join you guys."

Kankuro quickly ran into view and put his hand on Kiba's shoulder. "Kiba, how do you know we can trust this kid? He might be a spy." Kankuro spat and glared directly at Naruto.

This kid's stare was full of hatred and gave Naruto the chills. What was this kid's problem?

"I'm a pretty good judge of character, Kankuro." Kiba raised his broadsword above his head, preparing to deliver a mighty blow. Naruto looked up at the sword in awe. This was going to be it for him; Kiba must have changed his mind. Naruto had no time to be upset before the sword was brought down. To Naruto's amazement, the ropes around him broke free and he didn't feel any pain.

"Thanks, man." Naruto said standing up and brushing himself off. "I think I am going to log off though. I have a math test tomorrow and I really should study for it."

"I hate math." Kiba said. "Never have been too good at it. Tomorrow we should all meet at the local inn at around 5 p.m, alright?" Everyone in the group nodded in agreement.

Naruto brought up his menu by swiping his hand in the air. He selected the log out button, the world around him dissolved, and he soon found himself in his bedroom. Naruto removed the gaming glasses, put them on the nightstand next to his bed, and sat up on his bed. His mother was right; he really needed to clean his room. Dirty clothes were scattered across the floor, used dishes, some half full of various foods, and were perched precariously on the nightstand and on the computer desk. As he stood up a pungent odor filled his nostrils for a few seconds and then faded as fast as it had appeared. _'Was that what my room smells like? Holy god, no wonder no one ever comes back here.' _Naruto walked out into the living room to grab his book bag so he could study for his PreCalculus test tomorrow. Back in his room, Naruto tossed the book bag on his bed and he flopped down beside it. He unzipped his backpack and reached inside, pulling out his notebook and his book. He opened the book to page 95 and saw that the review was 35 questions long and that most of the questions had multiple steps to them.

_'Well, I probably should at least start doing this…'_

Naruto fished around in his bag for his mechanical pencil. He hated normal pencils; they were such a pain in the butt to use. In addition, he hated getting up in the middle of class and sharpening the pencil. He felt like all eyes were suddenly on him; he was suddenly in the spotlight and it was awful. People disliked Naruto, somehow rumors had spread about him being gay back in freshman year and stories kept surfacing of the numerous sexual encounters he had been in with men. People wouldn't let it die, they would whisper behind his back and some of the more belligerent people would throw pens and paper balls at him. As of this year, things had been relatively quiet, and he intended to keep them that way. Naruto worked on the review for about twenty minutes, and then decided to get on the internet and check his social networking accounts to see if any of his friends had decided to talk to him today.  
_  
_Facebook was devoid of any new messages or entertaining posts, so Naruto logged out and decided to check his phone.  
Naruto flipped open his phone (his family could not afford to buy him a fancy phone) and saw the yellow envelope lit up in the right top corner.  
"Someone sent me a text." Naruto said a sudden rush flowing through his body.

-Hey, Naruto. How was your day? Want to go to basketball practice with me tomorrow? Sakura.

_'What the hell does she want me to go there for? It's just a bunch of assholes playing with balls and claiming that they aren't gay.' Naruto thought. 'I need to get out though, and I won't have to do my PreCalculus work, so, I guess it sounds like a plan.'  
_  
-Sure Sakura, but only if you will drive me home afterward.

Within a few seconds, Naruto's flip phone began buzzing and sputtering.

- Alright, you have yourself a deal. Meet me tomorrow afternoon in the courtyard.

-Okay, I'll see you there.

Naruto knew that he would not be hearing back from Sakura, so he decided to go to bed and prepare himself for the day ahead of him. It was a Monday. Monday's were always shit and no one could tell him otherwise. He flopped on his bed face first into the pillow and waited for sleep to take him away, but it didn't. Not right away anyway. Naruto lied there, tossing and turning on his bed, unable to get comfortable. He heard his parents quietly enter the house as to not wake Naruto. They were most likely coming back from a date night or something silly like that. The tossing and turning ensued until about 2 A.M., then finally, Naruto went to sleep.

A screeching noise filled Naruto's ears.

"Fuck me." Naruto groaned as he shoved his pillow over his face. "I just went to bed like ten minutes ago. Are you kidding me?"

Naruto ignored his screeching alarm clock and attempted to go back to bed. The alarm clock suddenly topped its horrendous noise, so Naruto peeked out from underneath the pillow to see what had stopped it. It was his mother, Kushina.

"Naruto, wake up." Kushina sang into his ear.

"Uughfglry gha." Naruto moaned unintelligibly.

"Naruto! Wake the hell up!" Kushina roared, causing Naruto to jolt up out of his bed. Nothing was worse than seeing his mother angry. She had the temperament of a troll, or so Naruto thought.

"I..I'm up." Naruto said quietly, still groggy from just waking up.

"You overslept; your bus will be here in ten minutes. You have just enough time to get dressed and to catch the bus." Kushina said.

"Do I have time to shower? I forgot to do that last night." Naruto confessed.

"No, you do not. Get dressed and put cologne on or something." Kushina said as she walked out of the room to prepare Naruto's morning cup of coffee.

'Well, we are off to a great start already.' Naruto thought to himself as he climbed into a pair of dress pants and grabbing a relatively clean white button up shirt from the pile of clothes he kept in his closet. He walked quickly to the bathroom so he could brush his teeth and put some cologne on.

He knew that at the end of the day he would smell, no matter what he did.

After finishing what he needed to do in the bathroom, Naruto ran into the kitchen and slipped on his dress shoes and grabbed the mug of coffee his mother had left for him on the counter.

"Have a nice day!" Kushina hollered from another room.

"Sure." Naruto stated as he walked out the front door to see his bus coming up the street.

"Fuck." Naruto said aloud as he practically ran to make it to his bus stop.

Not one other student had Naruto's bus stop, his bus stop was also the first, so he had first pick of the seats. Naruto walked onto the bus and the bus driver gave him a smile and a nod, acknowledging his presence. He picked the seat right behind the bus driver, because he could get off the bus quickly and people would be less prone to messing with him.

One bus stop after another the bus slowly began to fill with kids, most of them younger than Naruto. Naruto felt something hit the back of his head. He reached around and grabbed the projectile. It was a ball of paper, but on closer inspection, Naruto noticed something scrawled on the note.

–DIE SCUM-

Naruto knew who did this; he had seen the handwriting numerous times on notes similar to this one.

"Thanks Sasuke. I always can count on you to brighten up my morning." Naruto slickly said as he tossed the paper to the ground and flashed a smile in Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke was in the same grade as Naruto. He had dark black hair that fell in his face and had eyes that were as black as coal. Naruto felt that there was something off about this kid, he wasn't sure what, but he knew enough not to piss him off.

"What was that Naruto?" Sasuke spoke up. "I couldn't hear you with that dick in your mouth."

Naruto didn't even bother to look back, he just reached down for his backpack….. wait, his backpack.

_'Today is shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit. How the fuck could I forget my backpack? My pre-calc work was in there and it's due today.' _Naruto began stressing out; he couldn't get another zero in that class, his parent's would be awful sore if they found out he hadn't handed in another homework assignment.  
Maybe his teachers would understand; it's not like they hadn't done the exact same thing when they were younger.

The rest of the bus ride was somewhat torturous, but Naruto was used to it. Finally, the bus pulled up to Naruto's school.  
"Good old Westleaf High." Naruto sighed.

The school was relatively new; about three years ago, the old school was torn down and replaced with this new, more technologically advanced school. Naruto was the first off the bus. He walked down the bus ramp toward the front entrance of the school, which had a covered walkway leading up to large marble stairs. Naruto walked up the steps, guiding his hand along the guardrail not because he was afraid he would fall, but because he liked the way the smooth metal felt on his hand. The metal was cold and cooled down his warm hands.

As Naruto entered the school through the front office, the women at the front desk eyed him like he was interrupting their work. Naruto ignored their icy stares and walked into the school's main hallway. His first class of the day was history with Mr. Ebisu. Ebisu's classroom was located at the very end of the main hallway. Naruto was going to be early to class, but he had to explain to Ebisu what happened to his backpack and see if he would allow him to leave class to call his mother.

Naruto approached Ebisu's room and as he got closer, he could feel the thud from each familiar strum of the bass guitar.

_'Is he listening to Modest Mouse?' _Naruto though, surprised at Ebisu's choice of music.

Naruto turned the handle and as soon as he did so, the music came to a halt.

"Hello, Naruto, and sorry if my music was a bit loud." Ebisu said watching Naruto walk through the door with a confused look on his face.

"Hi . The music didn't bother me at all. I actually like Modest Mouse. I came to ask you a question about class today." Naruto shuffled closer to 's desk.

"Shoot, I just may have a helpful answer." Ebisu smirked at his own retort.

"Well, this morning I accidentally left my house without my backpack and I really need it. Do you think I could go to the guidance department and ask to use their phone?" Naruto asked.

"No, you can't, but I will do you one better." Ebisu said as he reached into his pocket.

Naruto was beginning to feel a bit defeated. He knew this day was going to be awful.

Ebisu pulled a touch screen phone out of his pocket and handed it to Naruto.

"Go into my office, close the door, and call your mom with my phone. The schools' phones are such a pain in the ass to use." Ebisu said with a smile on his face.

"Thanks, Mister Ebisu. I owe you one." Naruto beamed as he ran off to Ebisu's office.

Naruto put the phone up to his ear and waited for his mother to pick up.

After four rings his mother's soft voice came on the line.

"Hello?" Kushina asked.

"Hey mom; It's me, Naruto and I was wondering if you had time to deliver my backpack to school. I forgot it in my room because I was doing homework last night and I really need it." Naruto made his voice quiver as if he was about to cry.

"Sure. Do I just leave it at the front office? Or what am I supposed to do with it?" Kushina asked.

"Uhm, just tell the ladies at the front office that the backpack should be delivered to Naruto Uzumaki as soon as possible, okay?" Naruto said.

"Sure thing, now you behave yourself. Love you." Kushia said, her words as sweet as honey.

"Love you too mom." Naruto said as he hung up the phone.

He walked back out into the classroom and handed Ebisu his phone.

"Thank you, sir. She is going to deliver it sometime during this period. Hopefully." Naruto sighed.

"No problem, we all have those days, don't we?" Ebisu reached out and patted Naruto on the shoulder.

"Now take a seat in the back of the class where other people won't bother you until you get called up to get your backpack." Ebisu said as he pointed to the seat nearest his desk. The seat no student wanted to sit in.

"…Okay." Naruto sighed as he slid into the seat and put his head down on the desk.

_'Maybe people will think I am in trouble or something.' _Naruto thought to himself.

A steady stream of students began to file into the classroom, each finding a seat far away from Naruto. Sasuke strolled into the classroom, locked eyes with Naruto and whispered something to his friends, who burst out laughing.

_'It's obvious he is making fun of me. That asshole.'_ Naruto thought to himself, seething with anger.

The remaining stragglers came into the classroom right before the bell rang and found a seat, followed by Ebisu who greets his students as they come in.

Ebisu walked up to the front of the classroom and began scrawling on the blackboard and talking about the economic crisis that led up to the great depression. Students were hastily writing notes, trying to keep up with Ebisu.

Naruto put his head down and fell asleep for most of the class. When he lifted his head an opened his groggy eyes, he could see that there were only ten minutes left in the class period and still he did not have his backpack.

_'She needs to get here soon.' _Naruto inwardly complained.

Ebisu stopped lecturing and allowed the class to have ten minutes to catch up on any notes they may have missed. He walked back to his desk and gave Naruto a reassuring look.

With less than two minutes left in the class period a loud click came over the intercom, followed by Sakura's voice (she worked for the front office during first period): "Mr. Ebisu could we please have Naruto Uzumaki to the front office and then to guidance?"  
"Sure thing." Ebisu said as he motioned for Naruto to leave.

"Guidance? What did I do now?" Naruto groaned. He had never been in trouble, but there had been a point where rumors had made their way to the guidance counselors and Naruto got called up to guidance everyday so the guidance counselor could perform a welfare check on him.

Naruto walked up to the front office and as he walked into the reception area one of the ladies at the front desk gave him a dirty look and pointed down the hallway that connected the front office and guidance.

Naruto walked down the hallway, not seeing his backpack or Sakura anywhere. Eventually the hallway ended and he was in the guidance department, his backpack still nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, there you are Naruto." Izumo beamed.

Izumo was always cheerful and a bit over the top, but he didn't bother Naruto all that much, in fact, you could say that they got along.  
"Hey Izumo. Have you seen my backpack?" Naruto asked.

"It's in my office; I figured that I would grab it for you so I could talk to you about your future." Izumo responded.

"But I didn't make an appointment." Naruto blurted.

"I have to meet with all of the seniors at one point or another and today just happened to be your lucky day." Izumo said as he put his hand on Naruto's back and led him to the small box shaped office.

Naruto sat down in the cushioned chair across from Izumo's desk and saw that his backpack had been carefully laid against the leg of the chair.  
After Naruto took a seat, Izumo walked over to his seat next to the computer, sat down and looked at Naruto.

"So, you are a senior. Do you have any idea where you want to go to college or what you want to do?" Izumo questioned, his eyes narrowly focusing on Naruto.  
"Uh, no. I don't have any idea where I want to go, but I do know that I want to be able to create video games when I am older." Naruto smiled as he fantasized about becoming a professional video game designer.

"I see; so do you plan to major in computer science? How are you going to pay for college?" Izumo threw even more questions at Naruto.

"I'm unsure. I guess. I was kind of hoping to get a few scholarships. Money is hard to come by these days, you know?" Naruto said.

"Well, let me pull up your name on my computer and I can match you with a few scholarships, just give me a second alright?" Izumo happily said. It was like this was the first time he had actually been useful to a student. Izumo looked through Naruto's records and found several scholarships that could potentially help Naruto out.

"Well, the good news is: There are scholarships out there for you. The bad news is: You don't have any community service hours, so you may just get overlooked when and if you apply for these." Izumo stated. "Would you like me to show you various community service opportunities we have right now?"

"That'd be nice." Naruto said.

Izumo tapped a few keys on the keyboard and a list of all community service openings appeared.

Izumo rattled off the entire list, which must have taken a good twenty minutes or so, and Naruto didn't find anything that interested him all that much.

"What would you suggest, sir?" Naruto asked.

"Well volunteering as a crisis hotline operator for the Trevor Project would really suit you if you ask me. It would also be really fulfilling." Izumo flashed a smile in Naruto's direction.

"Alright, but what would I have to do exactly and when would I have to start?" Naruto asked.

"Well, you will be talking to people who are having problems at home or are on the verge of suicide or something like that. You will be trying to talk through their problems and get them to a more stable state." Izumo said. "Also you'll start as soon as I get your paperwork in. The first few phone calls will be supervised and you will be led through how to talk to people in a way that will make them feel comfortable and not threatened."

"Oh, that sounds kind of fun." Naruto lied.

The next couple of hours were spent in Izumo's office, filling out various forms and getting Naruto prepared to begin his job as a volunteer hotline operator.

"Alright, you are all set up and should be hearing from the agency sometime soon. I would keep a look out in my email and keep my cell phone handy if I were you." Izumo recommended. Izumo took out a goldenrod pass and scrawled his name on the bottom of it.

"Here, head back to your third period now, alright?" Izumo said as he handed the pass to Naruto.

"Thank you."

Naruto stood up and shook hands with Izumo, then proceeded to walk back to his third block. There were about 10 minutes left in his third block class before they were scheduled to have lunch. Naruto took his sweet time getting back to class, stopping to look at student artwork that adorned the hallways.

As Naruto approached his third block, Pre Calculus with Hatake Kakashi, the lunch bell rang and students began pouring out of the classroom. Naruto shifted to the side and let everyone get out of the classroom before he walked in, sat his stuff at his desk, pulled out his homework, and handed it to Mr. Hatake.

"Sorry I am so late. I had an appointment with my guidance counselor, but here is my homework." Naruto said with an apologetic tone.

"It's fine, but hurry on and get to lunch, you'll be late." said as he took Naruto's homework and sat it on a pile of papers.

Naruto hurried out of the classroom and made his way to the cafeteria. The lunch lines were already crowded with people and Naruto forgot his lunch money in the classroom, again.

"Well, guess I will have to wait until I get home." Naruto said as his stomach growled in protest.

As Naruto ventured further into the cafeteria the noise from people talking grew louder and he saw a familiar girl with pink hair standing up and motioning for him to come sit at her table. Naruto walked over to the table and sat down with a smile. The table was almost full with the addition of Naruto. He knew some of the people that were sitting there: Chouji, Hinata, Tenten and Lee.

"Hey Naruto, how are you?" Sakura asked.

Everyone at the table seemed to stop their conversations and wait for Naruto to answer the question before they all resumed.

"I've been better, thanks for asking. How are you doing?" Naruto asked, trying to be polite.

'I am doing really well. I just got my first in Chemistry." Sakura beamed. "Are you still going to basketball practice with me after school?"

"Yeah I am, why?" Naruto asked.

"That's good, now we will have more than one person watching us practice. Maybe you could give us some tips, huh Naruto?" Lee interjected. He was the captain of the basketball team and was eager to earn a championship for the school this year.

"Sure, I'll try my best. I took a basketball class my freshman year, so I know a bit about the sport and might be able to help you guys a bit." Naruto said.

"I was just wondering if you were going to be there; you have a tendency to bail on people at the last second." Sakura responded.

Naruto leaned in close to Sakura and whispered in her ear: "So is Lee the reason you are going to watch the practices?"

Sakura's face turned red and she slapped Naruto on the shoulder.

"I'll take that as a yes." Naruto chuckled.

"Well, you don't know why I invited you. So ha." Sakura smirked.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, now intrigued.

"Well, you'll just have to wait. In fact he was supposed to be here at lunch today."

"You didn't Sakura, did you?" Naruto asked, his heart sinking a bit. Sakura had tried to set him up with people before, but it never worked; they were always self absorbed and annoying.

"Not yet I didn't." Sakura giggled. "By the way, Lee. Where is he anyway?"

"I think that he had to finish up a test so he was skipping out on lunch to finish it." Lee responded before reentering his previous conversation with the other members at the table.

"Who is _he_?" Naruto asked.

"You'll find out later, I promise." Sakura said.

The rest of lunch Naruto tried to get the information out of Sakura, but his attempts were futile. The bell that signaled the end of lunch rang and Naruto walked back to his third block to retrieve his belongings and to get the homework assignment for tonight.

The chalkboard read: Page 192, 11 47 odd.

Naruto pulled out his notebook and scrawled the page and problem numbers down and then headed off to his favorite class of the day: Photography.  
Naruto had been in the first level of photography during his first year in high school and he had been unable to get the second level of the class until this year.

Naruto walked by the main office, his classroom in view, and his thoughts began to wander. He wondered exactly what Sakura had planned for him or who, rather.

The previous teacher had retired last year and the school hired a former wildlife photographer to fill the spot. His name was Hayate Gekko. He had shoulder length brown hair and dark circles under his large eyes. He was a really good photographer and had taught Naruto about pushing the boundaries with art and how to changes his photos to make them better.

"Hey Naruto, are you ready for this week's assignment?" Hayate asked as Naruto walked through the door.

"Well, we'll see." Naruto said absentmindedly.

"You alright? You don't seem as chipper as you usually are." Hayate noted.

"Yeah, just got a lot on my mind. Maybe this assignment is what I need." Naruto said, flashing a smile Hayate's way as he sat down at his usual table.

Hinata came into class along with a flood of other students, among them underclassmen like Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon. Those three were always inseperable. They all had the exact same schedule. How they managed to remain close friends was beyond Naruto. He was the type that needed a little alone time now and then or else he would get so frustrated and end up getting snippy toward the people he cared about the most.

"Hey Naruto." Hinata said while blushing as she sat down opposite Naruto.

"Hey, what's up?" Naruto asked casually.

"Nothing much….are you ready to find out what the assignment is?" Hinata's voice trailed off as she glanced around the room, trying not to make eye contact with Naruto.

"Hm, yeah. I guess I am." Naruto said. "Do you know what Sakura was talking about at lunch?"

"No, I wasn't really paying attention. I am sorry." Hinata said.

The bell rang signaling the start of class. Students scrambled to find an empty table at which they and their friends could sit.

"Alright class." Hayate paused and coughed. "It's time for this week's assignment. You will have one week to take an image and edit it to your liking. The image has to represent athleticism."

"Ew, sports are gross." Moegi whined, interrupting Hayate.

"Well, maybe if you would let me finish, you would find out that you do not have to attend a sporting event to get the feel of athleticism. In fact, I don't want anyone to take a picture of people just playing a sport. That's way too easy." Hayate smirked as the class, except for Naruto, groaned in unison. "Just imagine the sports shots in ESPN magazine or whatever they call it nowadays."

"Can we check out cameras now?" Naruto eagerly asked.

"Sure, but you still have quite a bit of time left in class." Hayate said, taken aback by Naruto's eagerness.

"I know, but I have a good idea for a picture and I want to see if I can get the image now instead of waiting around until the last minute." Naruto explained.

In fact, Naruto planned to wait around until the last minute. He just wanted to get out of class and sit on the patio that was connected to the rear exit of the photography classroom.

Naruto slung the camera strap over his neck, grabbed his stuff, and headed to the patio. Once out on the patio Naruto put the camera in his backpack and slid his backpack underneath the bench. He curled up on the bench, in the sunlight and promptly fell asleep.

The screeching sound of the school bell awoke Naruto. He had successfully slept through his entire photography class and not one person had found him. Naruto stood up, swaying a bit due to his groggy state and grabbed his belongings. He now had to meet Sakura in the courtyard so they could watch the basketball team practice, which would also allow him to get a good photo for his athleticism project.

As Naruto wove in and out of hallways, the sound of students grew quieter and quieter. Soon he descended the stairs that led into the courtyard, and at the bottom of these stairs he saw the ever so familiar pink hair.

"Hey, Sakura, did I make it on time?" Naruto joked as he leaped down the last few steps.

"For once, you did, kid." Sakura giggled as she jokingly punched Naruto in the arm.

"Alright, so are we going to the gym?" Naruto asked as he took his camera out of his backpack and slung the strap over his neck as to make sure the camera would not fall.

"Yeah. By the way, what's with the camera?" Sakura asked.

"Well, my new photography project is athleticism and I thought that I might as well get the project out of the way. Do you think Lee would mind posing for a picture?" Naruto asked.

"Lee probably won't want to, but I think I know someone who might." Sakura grinned a devilish grin.

"What are you doing now?" Naruto sighed.

Sakura began walking to the gym, leaving Naruto in the dust.

"Wait up!" Naruto yelled while running, trying to catch up to Sakura.

Sakura and Naruto entered the gym where the basketball team was performing warm ups. As soon as they got into the basketball team's line of sight, the team stopped and walked over to greet the two.

"Sakura! Naruto! You actually came!" Lee said, ecstatic that other people would actually come and watch them practice.

"Hey, Lee. Naruto would like to take a picture of one of the players for a photo project. Do you think Kiba would oppose to being a part of it?" Sakura asked in a sweet tone.

"I don't know; let me get him over here." Lee said.  
"KIBA!" Lee screamed.

A boy who was not that much taller than Naruto rushed over; his shaggy brown hair bobbed up and down as he jogged over. He was quite muscular and had two red fang tattoos on his shoulder blades, just barely visible underneath his jersey.

"Who is that?" Naruto asked taken aback by the boy.

"That's him." Sakura said, quite pleased with Naruto's reaction.

"Oh." Was all Naruto could manage to say.

"Kiba, would you mind being photographed for Naruto's photography assignment?" Lee asked gesturing toward Naruto with his head.

"Not at all." Kiba said as he smiled and revealed his pearly whites. "Just make sure to get my good side." Kiba said and he jokingly slapped his right cheek twice and laughed.

"Well, I can't do it while you are playing, so maybe sometime after?" Naruto said.

"Sure, after practice come on back to the locker room and we can do it there." Kiba said. "Oh, by the way, my name is Kiba Inuzuka." Kiba offered his hand to Naruto for a friendly handshake.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto said as he shook Kiba's hand.

_'The name sounds so familiar. Why can't I place it? He has such a strong grip and seems like such a nice guy.' _Naruto thought to himself.

"I'll be in the stands, so catch me after you guys are done practicing." Naruto said.

Soon Kiba went back to the game and Naruto walked up to the bleachers and sat on the row closest to the court. Sakura and Lee were chatting it up, as Naruto expected. Those two needed to start dating already, the whole process of courting was taking way too long for Naruto's liking.

After they finished talking Lee went back to join the team and Sakura walked over and sat down next to Naruto, who was furiously taking pictures of the team practicing. He thought that maybe he could get something good that wasn't directly related to the physical activity or that he could use these images as stock images.

"How many pictures are you going to take?" Sakura asked kind of annoyed that Naruto wasn't paying attention to her.

"Probably a couple hundred or so, I need to have a good pool of pictures to choose from." Naruto answered, twisting the camera around trying to get a different angle with each picture he took.

"Alright, do you mind if I talk to you while you take pictures?" Sakura asked.

"Not at all." Naruto responded.

"Alright, so what do you think of Kiba?" Sakura smirked.

Naruto dropped his camera and he felt the neck strap tug on the back of his neck to prevent the camera from hitting the floor.

"He is nice." Naruto said, fumbling to regain a grip on his camera. "But I don't think he is gay. Actually I know that he isn't gay."

"What makes you say that?" Sakura asked.

"He is just too good, and he is on the basketball team. Hell, if people knew I was gay, there would be no way that I could actually gain a spot on a sports team." Naruto explained.

"Well, maybe he is closeted or something. I don't know." Sakura said, trying to give Naruto some hope. "Did he agree to have his picture taken?"

"Yeah, but I have to go into the locker room after the game." Naruto said.

"Well, make sure to control yourself, buddy" Sakura said as she giggled.

"Can you not, not right now." Naruto said, clearly agitated.

It was going on 5:30 when the practice finally ended and the team members retreated into the locker room.

"Alright, I am going back into the locker room now." Naruto said.

"Alright, try not to have too much fun in there." Sakura said with a wink.

Naruto scoffed and followed the team into the locker room. As soon as he opened the heavy green door and stepped into the locker room, his nose was assaulted with the stench of sweat, shame, and dirty clothes.

"Hey, Naruto, over here." Kiba waved his hand back and forth to get Naruto's attention.

Kiba was shirtless. He had a toned chest and a cute trail of hair leading from his belly button to, well, you know. His hair was damp from sweat and he was slightly out of breath.

Naruto walked over to Kiba, trying to keep his composure. Why did he have to go into a boys' locker room of all places?

"Alright, so what o you want me to do?" Kiba asked.

"I kind of want to get a shot of your tattoos if you don't mind." Naruto said.

"Not a problem, let me just turn around for you." Kiba said as he twirled himself around so his back was facing Naruto.

As Kiba twirled, Naruto got a nose full of his scent. It wasn't bad. It was really hard to describe; it was a natural scent and it was just pleasing.  
The tattoos were glistening with sweat; in fact there were small drops of sweat in the middle of the blood red tattoos.

Naruto took a picture of the tattoos straight on.

"Can you bend over a bit and maybe arch your back?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, but you have to take me to dinner first." Kiba retorted.

"What?" Naruto said, taken aback by the response.

"Joking, joking." Kiba said as he did as he was instructed.

Naruto kneeled and the image was looked good in the camera. He definitely could work with this. Naruto tried to take the picture quick, because Kiba's butt was directly in front of his face.

The camera shitter closed and Naruto told Kiba he could stand up again.

While Naruto was kneeled, Kiba stood up and felt something in his lower stomach rumble. Soon, without meaning to, he farted, right in Naruto's face.  
Kiba's face turned as red as a tomoato.

"Oh my god, Naruto, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Kiba put his hands over his mouth and tried really hard not to laugh, as that would ruin the apoloy.

"Really? That's so gross. That was probably your plan all along." Naruto stood up and began walking out of the locker room.

_'God _dammit' Naruto thought to himself. 'Don't cry here, wait and do it later.'

"Naruto. I'm sorry!" Kiba called after him, but it was too late.

Naruto walked out of the locker room with tears streaming down his face to see Sakura waiting for him.

"What happened?" Sakura asked as she rushed over to be by her best friend's side.

"Nothing. Take me home." Naruto demanded. He was not in any mood to deal with people.

"Okay." Sakura agreed.

She and Naruto walked to her car, a black Mitsubishi Eclipse, with a pale pink trim. Sakura pulled her keys out of her pocket and clicked a button, unlocking all doors.

As soon as Naruto heard that sound, he opened the door and quickly sat down in the passenger side of the car. He placed his elbow on his knee and rested his head in his hand while looking out the window.

_'Something must have gone down in the locker room.' _Sakura thought to herself. She hadn't seen Naruto this upset since middle school. _'I'll get down to the bottom of this myself.'_

Sakura had good intentions, but tended to get too involved in other people's lives sometimes.

The ride home was silent. Naruto stared out the window and let the tears stream.

It wasn't that he was over sensitive, what happened just reminded him of the days where he had been bullied. No one knew it, because he kept it to himself. He had tried so hard to repress those memories and that one accident brought them all rushing back. Naruto couldn't blame this on Kiba; he knew he couldn't. It wasn't his fault and if he had done it to Kiba; Naruto would probably have been rolling on the floor from laughing so hard.  
Sakura pulled up to Naruto's home and locked Naruto's door.

"Listen." Sakura said. "Please, don't let what happened bother you. You can tell me when you are ready and I will back you up and give that asshole a piece of my fist."

"Thank you, Sakura." Naruto choked out. "It's not necessary though. It's just me being a bitch."

Naruto proceeded to unlock his own door and exited the vehicle.

His parents weren't home yet, so as he opened the door to his house silence and darkness enveloped him. He turned on the kitchen light and went to his room so he could go straight to bed. He had made up his mind that he would not hold this against Kiba and that he would look at the images tomorrow in photo class.

Naruto climbed into bed, fully dressed, and drifted off to sleep. Throughout the night, in his sleep, Naruto cried and dampened his pillow.


End file.
